LETTERS FROM ABROAD.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 186, 24 July 1911, Page 11

LETTERS FROM ABROAD.

BY T. LINDSAY BL'ICK. Ml 12. EGYPT. Tlie jxntion oi the Egyptian railwavs over which wv were .»..»<-Hing to Cairo runs par.-dl- 1 with the S>uez Canal to its termination on the Mediterranean -hole at Port but at Ismailia, about halt way to that terminus, it junction- with another line running at right angles to it, which bring- th.- trav.-llti to tin- Egyptian capital.

it was to that -<<t:oii of the <• Witry traver-*sl >«:«< 11 SIH-z. and |sMia:lta to which 1 x-feirwl in my last fe-uer a» the Egyptian «hsert, i«»r by ini -<tho. io».<- can it lx- called until tin 4 iit<Ti'i i'<- of tinaiicir i-s, and tin* skill 01 •'h of neo rs, bed it with the wafeTN of th* Nile. Whether this will eve:- Iw jH»sll>)e or jtistirii d I vainu.t .say, but it is ch-nly the solution <>t the dorvvt problem, fur we notii-ed that wli teti-r by any chai th** land received sufficient moist lire there were growing green |»at<kes ot suceulonter.kinj; t eget at or. With these bright except ions, there was nothing visible «>n the landward side, and right up to ’h< brink of the-canal, but wide st-retclies ot sand and gravel, sometimes level to a degree of monotony, ainl sometimes rendered a trifle more interesting by being driven up into undulating mounds 01 wavy hummoeks. A dry and arid wilderi ess or.-r which wo taw, in the dusty distance, a earned train slowlv ploughing its weary- way to Suez : it looked to me the lery acme of hopelessness, as mile alter mile was covered bv the speeding train without any improvement in its appearance, except the little Arab camps beside the waterholes t<» which I have already referred. When a few miles out of Suez we rau into a dust storm with its hot blasts of wind, and clouds of powdered sand, which penetrated every crevice in the carriages, gviug us some faint ootiception of what an awful experience it must be to find one’s self *-ui>ulfed in tiw suffocating vapors of sm-h a cyclone when out in the Imart <»f the desert.

Ae we drew near to Ismailia we crossed the fresh water cans Iwhich runs from the Nile to tlie Suez Canal, a work which was originally intended io transform Ismailia into a fashionable watering place, but failing in that intent owing to misdirection, it has performed a greater work for Egypt by becoming one of th * Nile's chief arteries. Close to its lonfluency* with the saltwater canal stands Ismailia. a town of 15,0D0 inhabitants, ami cek*brat«<d in history as the centre of high festivities, including the entertainment of Royalties, in connection with the upming of the Suez Canal, and later, in 1882, as the feverstricken camp which v proved more »k«tdl.v to the British soldiers than all the bullets and bayonets of Arab Pasha's rebels. To-day it is a sleepy, peaceful little Eastern town, containing many large and fashionable residences, but devoid of any internal ♦ xcitemeiit, saw for the rush and bustle « r<*s*t* <1 by the arrival and <leparture of tire Cairo express. As it was still some twenty minutes before this important daily event would galvanise the ianjjtiki populace* into even a semblance of vitality, we employed our leisure in diagnosing the various types of intending passengers, who. like onr-*'lves, were whiling away the idle moments ou tla* railway platform. Many of them were new to us, but all were rich in attraction, from the Bedouin Sheik, to the Bishop of the Greek Church, whose tall black hat was a conspicuous feature in the scene. In dre“* ' color, and cast of feature they represented tlu* four corners of the earth, so serving to illustrate tlie composite nature of an Eastern population, anil more than all that, the mysterious call which Egypt has ever had for the Mediterranean peoples is as clearly heard to-day as it was in the days of Joseph and his Brethren.

Idle rush of a crowded train and a scramble to seem?* -* .'it-* cut short our reflections upon the social, religious, and political questions which the complex nature of our travelling companions had suggested, and we were deprived of the opportunity of continuing them when we resumed our journey by the unfading interest of the novel country through which we were passing. For the first, few miles it was the same garish desert, sand hummock, sand plirin. and sand dune, until we reached Fnusl. die first station wliere a feu green fields suggest the furthest influence of th** irrigation scliemes laid down fur tin' reclamation of the sandy waste. Here the glimmer of green i< very taint, ami it almost dies away again at .Xehscli. ami at Tel-al-Kebeer. but these spots are still green o,!r cause of their imjxu taine in the Egyptian campaign of 1882. 7’he de.-etf winds have removed the hill i»t -and from which Tel-al-Kebeer took ><' name. but the little cemetery -till n - mains 10 mark tic spot "lure thP j 150 British soldiers who toil in tlie : battle with Arabi’S lams in the | .-arlv hour- of th. morning 01 H pt< m- | kr Kk A [ ih< graves under a ■_ir*>v>- ol English ti*'*>. ■ and as tlie tram *i’< i'i P :ist u<* ns.' _ and nm-over. •! ■ ur heads as a mark ot ; restx’i t to the gallant dead. ; At Zagazig «<• a-.* still ‘ ft>r -itxvr H'*’ .•' * ' i T- 4-al-Keh*'* ; 3 British Jiai'** performed a valiant tent <’t aims in , dis.M.rsme to- tn.n. Uni- <>i h-U - ; tian u.inime. m-1” tli* r. bv j 1 the fate ot Ar:d>> am! ot ( mrm whu ■ ( was rakeii <»it • - 1 • f zi- n -taifn u -‘ine HniHjrtamv. . and here we begin t<> ni-st tlu- tin.;, Egvpt am! the E-H-’-hin as th > , are Udav. T! . v.i.-l. i-t- t "f >.<■ ( P’ople and tk laieKenp.- , J - one from the dl-di. A’ >'>s « b—ide thmi d'H-ile <;nmcl-. t . tfie ''■ ' . ■th.’ tnrhau'4 Tr.x?• l.art uit.s h " ot silk, on hi- h.uk. ..I the a. 11-dl- — 4.! gentleman of Turkish ymmtennm. , who- head is ,-r.mu.sl with a • ■ red f-z : a lul. th. ,‘dher i- m- '■’» r tin- <.-!l. " wa-t*' ot -an<.. bn t ’ ; nb .i.-lta ot th. N= !- 'h. .-mh.-T - m the w*>rhl. . , , 1 W.-t .’verv mil-- I’” 1 'i tu.s-n n- and th.- m--<-t the U’-vr' i of the si-'no nil*-.— *• . j black ami lo.im>. and th.-re 1-

} hill nor mound to obstruct tin- view. ' Parallel with the railway runs the great freshwater canal, and 1 rom it radiati’s minor systems of irrigaticri carrying fertility far and wide. Gre n crops and ripe crops now begin to n--lieve the <>.-. ami little village- appear. -4-iiii< -tere.| beneath clumps of palms. Ou all »id-'s there are |h <>;>!• cult ivaiing the soil, ami now we have time to note how tlu-y cultivate it. Not an rncli oi it is wasted, not even between on. man'.- crop ar.l another's. Tlu-r<- are no li.m-i-s, and the ilividing line lietweeu tin- properties i- invisible to the passer by. 1 hey crop in small ar.-as ami evkh-iitly on the principle of rotation. Fir-t a few acres of rifw corn, then some green f.ssi, followiMl by a stretch of cot-to'i. and again corn m a less advanced state of maturity, joined by a piece ol land in fallow. Every where the sysj t.’m is the same, and for the 82 miles of this magnificent country which we passed through we *>aw nothing but the process of sowing and reaping and reaping anti sowing going on from one horizon to the other.

Bul charming as tb<- scene was, in the afternoon light of what had been a typical New Zealand day, there was something pathetic in the fact that through ; 11 the ages which hail passed over the head- of the Egyptians since tli>* (lays of Rameses, and before him, through all the generations which have <iui:<> and gone since the ( hildi't-n of Israel lived and suffered in the land of Goshen, there has not penetrated one gleam of Western invention to lighten the labor of the Egyptian

Fellah, or to give him a better result for hi.s entiless toil. Considering the strides made in the manufacture and appiic-’ion of mechanical devices to th*, bfaness of agriculture in .-very country which, like Egypt, is by nature adapt.xl to agricultural pursuits, it would not hai'- lieeit unreasonable to supjiose that this country would have shared in the general advancement. But such is not the ca.M’. at least, in that portion of it which lieiwiweet: Cairo and the canal. Here ttie mechanical aids employed in tiding the land are lew, and are no im>re advaiice'l than tli--y were hum’ll'. <ls oi veins ago. A v.oodi 11 plough and a wooden w aterw in-el are all t hat the in-dii.-trtal arts hate gr-.u the Egyplian farmer. The man with th*- hoi' does the re-t. They sow hy hand, reap wi-.h tli<- -i< kle. and in one <n>" net nallv -aw th-* 'ox treading mil the ctiiu. ’ Horse.- apparently play !l " part in tlieir agri<ultur:il loniiinii. and oxen, a--- -■ and camels -till remain their principal bmi-t- i>l burden.

Tin* <ix**ii draw rhe plough- m <mc iu-tiinv*- w e saw the strang*’ anomal.v Ol an ex and a canu-l vok< d logel’wi and when wine!- an. u-ed tv Jill the water out ot til*' main canals on l'i the farms, thev patiently turn them day ti: and daj out. In main cases 4-veii • I,- -e simple <->mirivanees are not au.dable. and th. ri th<- Fella!; labori-I.il-l* work- at Ills bucket the ' -hathey call e--which is balauct-d bv a lump et el-. i 114-d ill a pn < e <>f -.•irking at the opposite eml of a swingis le. Then !,ou-< s.. aiw ac.- Hat-nwh-d. are built •■*! .-un-dn..*l b'-icks a« th*. Chihlr.of I-r.H 1 :• t. lie.-ugum-t makin— ard |>r-<-nt a -trikmo. re-emhinnee to the adobe lioveh ot tip* 31*.-xicon Indrans oi Arizona. H, re ami •!:■ •< a dwelling ot better type is M-eli -nrroiinded by the state-

ly palm tree-, which everywhere form conspicuous objects in the landscape, but- by comparison with the structures in Cairo, in view of the wellknown capacity of the Egyptians to build, the houses of the peasantry on the d*-!ta represent a slnx-kingly low standard of architecture-- -a sure and certain evidence ol centuries of op-

prcssioti. Though agriculture is Egypt’s principal industry, the jM'ople h.iie not i abandoned tlu ir pastoral pursuits, I but here, as in th*? vidtivation of the • land, the hand of hoary Time is upon them. Their llocks Mill consist of long-tailed sheep, and goats, suit! lie ir Beuhti we saw the shepherd in his shwpskiu coat |i*a*ling his Hock just as his forefathers did in Bible times. i But primitive ns their husbandry is, tin- average production must be con- ‘ .siik’iable. Tlieir cultivation is so intense. the land so rich, the climate so genial, that, so long as tlie Nile supplies their canals nith water they are able to reap three abundant harvests every year, and one has only to cast their eyes over the almost limitless fields, green to the very horizon, to realise what it meant when the news cam*’ to the famished Jacob that ther*was corn ni Egypt. Many of their canals are works of considerable niagnitiirc. and are apparently used as avenues of internal j transport, for barges with their long slender masts and quaint three-corner-ed sails are frequently seen upon them, lazily drifting lietiveen the banks fringixl uith golden bands oi rijM’niiig grain. It is as true to-day

as it was when Herodotus first coined the phrase, that “Egypt is the gift of the Nile,” and although the old method of casting their bread upon the waters has no doubt been superseded by defined schemes of irrigation, and tin- river supply has been regulated by the erection of dams, water is as much as ever the life’s blood of the land. The marvel and the pity is that more modern methods have not been adopted in its utilisation, bid the fact remains that here is a barrier which Western ch ilisatiou has not be?n able to i>-*netraii-. and we ride on wondering how long the awakening oi agrii iduiral Eg.'-pt will be delayed. As we draw nearer io Cairo, we begin to ob.-erv*’ an increase in the size and i nijxirt a nee ol the stations. Ihe platform- are more i-roivdi-11, the people appear mor*- iipiiletit. and there is an an ot bustle whirl; i- quit.' refreshing after so many ivti-ks oi Eastern languor. Town- ol mud hut- bi-eomc more ireqin-nt. and the surrounding -<-e;u- is relieied by tali clnmti'-y

-tack- whi<*h, "ii enquiry, we iim. are attached t<’ the many <x>non l-'Ktartes. a ih-w 1«-atnii* indicative ol inor.str.ai growth. At evry sUtliou there was the usual flotsam and jetsam of passeiigers, and at -ome point of the pnirHvW.Hif guide joined the train, and intormed us tliat everything was in readim's- for our entertainment at Cairo. Ih- was aeeoutpaiiii d bv an-, etb.-r dusky ntleman. robed in a . brilliant turban and a gow i>, j wh-. had cinii" out hoping to make up ; '-rood part V. He vi-ited all tho . carriages, touting tor bu-nie-s. amt when In- reai'lii d our department we j t.,->k hitn good-natiire’lly and his shiny j fae<-. wreathed in smiles bespoke him j one of the i.-vi:d sort. He regaled ns ; with m>ii.- <<f his experiences amongst j American tourists, and jocularly ap-

I plied the epithet of “Jim Jefferies” i to one of the burliest of our number, i This encouraged Mr Haliburton, of | Norsewood, who was with our party, ;to ask him what his name was. Evi- ' deutly tin- Egyptian detected something of tlie Scottish accent in which the question was put, for without a monti'iit’s hesitation he replied in tin* ; broadest of broad Doric, “my name is Jock M'Leau, frae Kirkcaldic.” 'The 1 answ<-r, so unexpected, and so perfectly expressed, came as such a com- ! plctc surpri-e to us that for a moment ■ we sat staggered into speechlossness, , but w hen we had recovered, and the ' burst of laughter at the humor of the position lead died away, we commenced to test his knowledge of the Scottish language by tiring off at him such classic names as “Eeclefechen” and “Aiichterniiicht.v,” but Hassan Mahomed ,for-.such was his true name, was equal to <'-very occasion, and shot back at us a long line of others rich with the scent of the heather and the brae. Me had just time to learn that Hassan had recently been associated with some Scottish tourists, item whom he had picked up something oi the tongue, whi'ii we spied the domes and minarets of Cairo through the trees, and in a few niiiiutes more we rushed under the glass roof of a niagnifieeiit sta-tion.

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